


Stab Me Once, Shame On You

by rasselbock



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Bloodplay, Established Relationship, F/M, Julian is as Bottom as They Come, Kinda?, Knifeplay, Meet Me in the Denny's Parking Lot at Midnight, Pretend It's Ya Own Apprentice Honestly, Romantic Ass Knife Fight, They Been Fuckin, a little bit, basically self-insert, first fic, knife fight, pun intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 10:12:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16262081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rasselbock/pseuds/rasselbock
Summary: A silent, serene night at the docks with nothing but bated breath and spirits on their lips. What could make a more romantic date?Knives. The answer is always knives.A tale of how Julian and the Apprentice can't act like civil human beings for one minute of their lives.





	Stab Me Once, Shame On You

**Author's Note:**

> What's more romantic than the slight probability of tetanus? Nothing, that's what.  
> Julian is very fun to write so this wasn't that painful to get through. I hope you guys feel the same way when reading!
> 
> P.S. Mim is short for Mímir, but if you wanna just pretend it's ya own apprentice, that's cool too.

The salt of the docks permeated through the air and into their lungs with every heavy breath they took. They both had pushed their sleeves up their arms, the fabric bunching at their biceps. A pile of black fabric laid a meter away, forgotten in their drunken merry.

The valley of skin exposed by his cotton shirt was littered with streaks of crimson. The blood flowed down his chest in rivers before dissipating into the wound itself. His blush nearly matched the intensity of the blood that littered his hands and chest as he gripped the dagger.

She came for him in quick, fluid movements. The way she would parry his dagger and go in for the kill sent a rush of heat through him. She was so small yet so predatory. She didn't possess the cunning sensuality of Asra. She was more direct. More aggressive. The toothy smile she gave as she lunged towards stoked a desire that made Julian bite his lip hard.

_The two had gone to the Rowdy Raven for a few rounds of Salty Bitters. Mim gave him a cocky grin as she kept up with him despite her smaller frame. Something about how her magic increased her metabolism. Magicians. However, the flush of her tawny cheeks grew round-after-round. It wasn't until the sixth round that her sharp eyes bore into him, making him flush from its intensity._

_“Let’s go get some fresh air,” she said and they left the table littered with tankards and pirates’ gold._

_They had stood on the docks and listened to the churning of the ocean as Julian reminisced of his life out at sea._

_“Ah, we used to get so bored that we'd beat each other senseless just to pass the time,” he grinned at the memory, “Not the most sophisticated means of entertainment, but those boys knew how to throw a right hook.”_

_Mim let out a puff of air in amusement before looking back at the inky black sea in her usual stoic manner._

_The mood felt as if time had paused. As if they could reminisce about the past and dream of the future without the problems that came with the present. Julian could have blushed at their unusual domesticity._

_“I have knives, ya know,” she said matter-of-factly, breaking the silence as they leaned against one another. Julian's brow furrowed in confusion. Mim, without any hesitation, pulled out two daggers._

_One was hers, decorated with intricate religious reliefs and carvings on the handle. The other one was much more simplistic. Julian recognized it._

_It was the same dagger she had seized from him at the shop. The one she had taken by shoving her hand into his pocket unwaveringly, staring at him challengingly even as he had towered over her. He was surprised and almost flattered that she kept it on her person._

_She threw the simple dagger his way and stepped back a few paces from him. He could see the sway in her movements as she spun around, dagger drawn._

_“Wanna fight?” Her request was so impulsive, so drunken, so reckless._

_And Julian loved it._

_He had thrown his cape and gloves to the side, spreading his arms out as he clasped the short blade in his large hand._

_“I’ll have you know that I have mastered the art of defensive stabbing!”_

_“Yeah yeah yeah I just hope you're not too attached to your fingers.”_

_“They're pretty attached right now.”_

_She didn't respond as she playfully swiped at him, nipping his knuckles with the blade. The suddenness of her movements made him blush. She had always been forward with her meaning, even if she didn't use words._

_“The safe word is Mackerel,” she said as she pulled back only to thrust forward again._

And now here they stood. They pulled in shuddering breaths of exhaustion and desire. Julian had barely touched her, only a few shallow wounds lined her hands. Winning wasn't his endgame. This was a game of conquest.

She always won.

Her movements were intense, muscles taut. She put so much effort even in the most trivial things. She lived for the moment, and the moment was them drunk on a questionably stable dock having a rather one-sided knife fight.

She was such a romantic.

Suddenly she drew back before surging forward, full force. Julian was ready to playfully dodge her blade.

Instead she shoved her whole body’s weight onto him, wrapping her arms around his torso with her face planted into his chest. Julian fell back onto the groaning swollen wood of the dock. His blade clattered towards his discarded coat. She laid on him, face first for a few moments. Julian couldn't breathe. He wanted to blame it on her vice-like grip, but he knew better.

“You're- you're so fuckin sweaty,” came the first muffled words that reverberated in his chest, kick-starting his heart back up. He looked down at her, her hair had unraveled itself from her two braids and engulfed her head.

“What can I say? It was certainly the workout,” and just as he smirked, he could feel her teeth sink into his chest. He arched his back and stifled a groan. Between scrunched eyes he caught the stars burning in the sky. When he looked back, he caught her eyes staring accusingly at him.

“Workout?” She scoffed, “You didn’t even try,” she licked a long stripe up the valley of his chest.

“God, you taste salty too.” He let out a shuddering laugh in reply. She wrenched her arms from beneath his back and cupped his chin between her forefinger and thumb, tilting his head back. She raised herself up until she was straddling him, running her dagger down the base of his throat and stopping right above his navel.

Julian whimpered as she lightly pressed the dagger down into his stomach. His whole body laid out before her, and he sucked in a sharp breath of air as he felt his skin split beneath the dagger. It was a small, shallow cut. She took the tip of the knife and pressed it against the wound before it could heal.

Routinely, Julian opened his mouth as she raised the dagger to his lips and pressed it flat against his tongue. He tasted copper and steel and salt. She grinded into the stiff leather of his pants, and a strangled noise caught in his throat. He had lost the fight.

And he loved every minute of it.

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic ever. Damn. After all these years, it was a sleep-deprived Jeff Goldblum wannabe that did me in.
> 
> Hope everyone enjoyed! Comment, Kudos, and all that nice stuff! Maybe I'll write some more Arcana pieces in the future? "The Denny's Parking Lot Escapades of Julian & Mímir: An Anthology of Disappointment"


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